Pentagon will hold parole-type hearings for Gitmo detainees

The Pentagon is preparing to hold parole-board-style hearings for 71 Guantanamo detainees, two years after President Obama first ordered the reviews.

Retired Rear Adm. Norton Joerg is processing the cases, the Miami Herald reports in a story also carried by McClatchy-Tribune. In emails to lawyers representing some of the inmates, he said that review panels will “assess whether continued law of war detention is necessary to protect against a continuing significant threat to the security of the United States.”

There are still no details about when the panels will meet, whether they will be open to the media and which cases will be heard first, the story says.

The announcement comes during a hunger strike by detainees who are protesting the conditions there. The military said Sunday that the condition of 46 detainees has deteriorated to the point where forced feedings are required. Last week, a federal judge refused to block the feedings, the Washington Post and the Associated Press reported.